Daniel McConnell reports on Dubliner Mr Brian Ingle who described how he was seconds away from being killed by the huge wave that crashed onto the shore at Auroville in southern India, where he was staying.
"The wave hit with such force that, had I been where I was 20 seconds before and had I let go of my surfboard, I would not be here now. It was that close," he said.
"The wave hit just as I was coming in from my morning surf. I'm so lucky to be alive, it all happened so fast," Brian, brother of Irish Times journalist Róisín Ingle, said yesterday from the Pondicherry region in southern India.
Mr Ingle, who has been in the country for a considerable time, had travelled to the south in order to spend the holidays with friends.
He said that within 60 seconds the water reached as high as 15 feet and caused substantial damage to huts and buildings along the shore.
"I had gone out for my surf and had noticed the waves were unusually good. On my way back in, I noticed the water was very high on the beach and, within a minute, I saw several bikes being swept away.
"As I made my way on to the beach, I saw my girlfriend being swept away, and then I was caught by the force of the wave. We both luckily managed to escape without serious injury, but it was really frightening as it was all so quick," he added.
Mr Ingle described how he saw his possessions, as well as the beach huts in which they had been staying, being carried away by the giant wave.
He said that while he and many of his foreign friends were able to save themselves, a large number of locals who could not swim - including women and children - were caught up by the swift-moving waters.
" After the wave hit, I saw one local handicapped man lying, almost dying, and his body covered with cactus needles. I tried to help him and a couple of minutes later another man who said he was his brother took him away."
Mr Ingle described his shock at the actions of some locals in the aftermath of the tsunami. He spoke of widespread looting as well as exploitation of prices by hoteliers and taxi-drivers.
"It seemed to me that they only cared if someone directly related to them was hurt, but I went back down later and it was unbelievable what I saw. The local rickshaws and hotels tripled their prices minutes after the wave struck.
"While the situation brought the best out in a lot of people, it certainly also brought the worst out in many others."